Latest / Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning / Ross Fulton Analysis: Ohio State Offense Vs. Texas

Transcript

Ross Fulton Analysis: Ohio State Offense Vs. Texas · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

0:00
Speaker 1: Welcome to Buckeyes Tomorrow Morning. For Tuesday, September 15th, I'm
0:03
Speaker 1: your host, Tom Moore. The Kent State game in four days,
0:05
Speaker 1: the game against Michigan in 74 days. Today's episode presented
0:08
Speaker 1: by our friends at Jeff Ruby's of Columbus, the award-winning
0:10
Speaker 1: upscale steakhouse in downtown Columbus. Name one of the top
0:13
Speaker 1: 50 steakhouses in America by Food Network. Just go to jeffruby.com
0:16
Speaker 1: slash Columbus, check out the menu, and make a reservation today.
0:20
Speaker 1: All right, friends, buckle in. We have a supersized episode
0:23
Speaker 1: for you this morning. There is a lot to talk about.
0:26
Speaker 1: We're the Ohio State offense's performance against Texas. We have 11, yes,
0:32
Speaker 1: count them, 11 plays to talk about. We're going to
0:34
Speaker 1: be doing that with our buddy Ross Fulton, one of
0:36
Speaker 1: the scheme gurus at BuckeyeInsiders.com. Ross, there was a ton
0:41
Speaker 1: to talk about. We're going to do this to make
0:42
Speaker 1: it as easy as possible for people to follow along.
0:44
Speaker 1: We're just going to kind of go sequentially through the game.
0:47
Speaker 1: First play we're going to be looking at is from
0:49
Speaker 1: that opening drive. It felt like the Buckeyes kind of
0:51
Speaker 1: had things rolling, and then they ran that toss play
0:54
Speaker 1: to Bo Jackson, and then they were kicking a field
0:56
Speaker 1: goal not long after that.
0:58
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, this is one of those sort of
1:00
Speaker 2: turning point plays early where, as you said, you obviously
1:04
Speaker 2: get the turnover here in the low red zone to
1:06
Speaker 2: start with, a couple of positive runs, and this seven-yard
1:10
Speaker 2: loss leads to a field goal.
1:12
Speaker 3: I suppose you could say that, you know, Julian St.
1:15
Speaker 2: Had Jeremiah Smith later on that drive in the end
1:19
Speaker 2: zone and threw an inaccurate back shoulder fade to him,
1:22
Speaker 2: and so maybe he could have made up for it.
1:23
Speaker 2: But this is sort of just like reflects– kind of
1:27
Speaker 2: like one of the themes I would like to hit on,
1:31
Speaker 2: which is there were plenty of plays and players in
1:35
Speaker 2: this game who did well enough to win it. I
1:40
Speaker 2: also think that the Ohio State offense at the moment,
1:42
Speaker 2: when you take out Jeremiah Smith, and maybe I'll put
1:46
Speaker 2: Julian Say in there as well, is made up of
1:48
Speaker 2: good but not great players.
1:51
Speaker 3: And so they all.
1:52
Speaker 2: Had their issues at times on Saturday. And when you have,
1:56
Speaker 2: a group of good, not, but not great players. It's
1:59
Speaker 2: not like they can sort of make up for the
2:02
Speaker 2: mistakes of others in the way that a Jeremiah Smith can, or,
2:05
Speaker 2: you know, running backs, Ohio state has had the past could.
2:08
Speaker 2: And so that that's like sort of reflected here on
2:10
Speaker 2: this first player. Like there are a ton of issues
2:14
Speaker 2: and I'm going to show it twice with Ohio state's
2:18
Speaker 2: outside zone run game, you know, through two games, they
2:22
Speaker 2: have run basically, uh, with the exception of one play
2:25
Speaker 2: on Saturday, which was a really successful counter. They never
2:27
Speaker 2: went back to inside zone, outside zone and duo. And
2:31
Speaker 2: the outside zone has just been terrible. Like it, they
2:34
Speaker 2: shot themselves in the foot repeatedly on against Texas trying
2:37
Speaker 2: to run outside zone, but here, you know, they're running
2:38
Speaker 2: as a toss. One of the issues that you'll see
2:41
Speaker 2: is that Texas is in an odd front with a
2:45
Speaker 2: head up nose. Like they frequently are. And the way
2:48
Speaker 2: that they're blocking this does not make sense to me
2:50
Speaker 2: because they Carson Hinsman at center is just turning and
2:53
Speaker 2: running and not getting a hand on the zero technique
2:57
Speaker 2: nose guard.
2:58
Speaker 3: And it's just an impossible block.
2:59
Speaker 2: Like, I don't know why he's not posting that guy
3:01
Speaker 2: for the backside guard to get to, but like, you
3:04
Speaker 2: can see he, the nose tackle drives Austin Cereville in
3:07
Speaker 2: the backfield, but like trying to overtake that is impossible.
3:10
Speaker 2: So from like a technique, technical standpoint, like that's my
3:14
Speaker 2: first issue. But then like, you know, again, we've talked,
3:17
Speaker 2: I've talked about the tight ends. I warned about the
3:20
Speaker 2: tight ends going into the season and tight end is
3:23
Speaker 2: an issue. And like to run plays where like the
3:26
Speaker 2: critical block.
3:27
Speaker 3: Is on the tight end. It just, I just think
3:31
Speaker 3: is continuing to ask for problems.
3:32
Speaker 2: And so here, you know, you've got this wide nine,
3:35
Speaker 2: the way it's drawn up, Ian Moore has to, to
3:38
Speaker 2: reach that guy. But like, again, like the tight end here,
3:42
Speaker 2: I believe it's been a Christian, like, He, again, just
3:45
Speaker 2: like I said with Hinsman, like he needs to get
3:46
Speaker 2: a hand on 14 to help Ian Moore get into place.
3:51
Speaker 3: He doesn't.
3:52
Speaker 2: It's, you know, he gets his block. The crack block
3:54
Speaker 2: is there. You can see it coming, but there's no chance.
3:58
Speaker 2: But this sort of also gets to my point of
4:01
Speaker 2: like picking people up. Like this is also a poor
4:04
Speaker 2: run by Bo Jackson. I do think Bo Jackson has improved.
4:08
Speaker 2: I think he slashes. He like, he gets yards. You know, they,
4:13
Speaker 2: he sort of makes it happen. And like, he's an
4:15
Speaker 2: asset in the past game, but like this ball has
4:18
Speaker 2: to be cut up inside. And so like, he could
4:21
Speaker 2: have made like, despite all the blocking problems I went
4:24
Speaker 2: through there, like he could have made them right. At
4:27
Speaker 2: least like minimize the pain by cutting inside. But instead
4:31
Speaker 2: of like, you know, he does what you can't do here,
4:33
Speaker 2: which is string it out and you have a big loss.
4:36
Speaker 1: All right. So we're going to have some equal time
4:37
Speaker 1: here for the tight ends. The blocking was not great
4:40
Speaker 1: on the last one, but we're going to talk about
4:41
Speaker 1: the receiving on this one. This is the second catch
4:44
Speaker 1: that Mason Williams had. This is the one where he
4:46
Speaker 1: had the really nice yards after the catch. I think
4:48
Speaker 1: this was the second drive of the night. And I
4:51
Speaker 1: saw this play, and I thought, oh, boy, Mason Williams
4:53
Speaker 1: is going to be a big part of the passing
4:54
Speaker 1: game tonight. And then this was the last time Mason
4:56
Speaker 1: Williams caught a pass all night.
4:58
Speaker 2: Yeah, and he caught it because this ball was going
5:00
Speaker 2: to Jeremiah Smith, and he jumps up and catches it.
5:03
Speaker 2: It's clearly intended for Smith. Like, Sane would not throw
5:06
Speaker 2: it that high to a tight end otherwise. And so, like,
5:10
Speaker 2: part of what I want to– my point for grabbing
5:12
Speaker 2: this clip is I do think that they did a
5:15
Speaker 2: nice game plan. And by they, I mean, Arthur Smith
5:18
Speaker 2: and Ryan day for moving Jeremiah Smith around and using
5:21
Speaker 2: a lot of these like over and crossing routes, um, early.
5:25
Speaker 3: Against, uh, Texas's own coverage schemes.
5:29
Speaker 2: Um, I, you know, again, in terms of like trying
5:33
Speaker 2: to use this to look forward, cause you know, big picture, right?
5:36
Speaker 3: Like it was a horrible way to lose.
5:39
Speaker 2: Um, But at the end of the day, like if
5:41
Speaker 2: you told me on without any more last week that
5:44
Speaker 2: Ohio state loses by one at Texas, it's like, it's
5:47
Speaker 2: not the end of the season, right?
5:48
Speaker 3: Like you, they were an underdog. They have plenty to
5:54
Speaker 3: play for.
5:54
Speaker 2: So you're looking at this with like an eye towards, okay,
5:57
Speaker 2: what worked, what didn't, what can we build on to improve?
6:01
Speaker 2: And I just think these like play action bootlegs need
6:04
Speaker 2: to be a bigger part of the game plan. Again,
6:06
Speaker 2: this was like something that worked early and they didn't
6:08
Speaker 2: really go back to. You know, this is like, honestly,
6:11
Speaker 2: the only good thing they're getting out of outside zone
6:12
Speaker 2: right now is this bootleg action. We're Julian saying it's
6:16
Speaker 2: pretty successful doing this, but again, yes, it's supposed to
6:19
Speaker 2: go to Jeremiah Smith. They worked out he, including by
6:22
Speaker 2: him providing a block, but it just conceptually, I think
6:25
Speaker 2: something that, you know, they need to make a bigger
6:28
Speaker 2: and more consistent part of the plan is this movement
6:31
Speaker 2: passing game, particularly just to help out the blocking as
6:35
Speaker 2: well as we'll, we'll get into here later.
6:38
Speaker 1: Well, and a guy who feels like he might be
6:40
Speaker 1: a bigger part of the game plan moving forward is
6:42
Speaker 1: Jacoby Jackson, because before the year, they talked about the
6:45
Speaker 1: fact that they needed to get more. They needed guys
6:46
Speaker 1: to make guys either make just run over someone or
6:49
Speaker 1: make someone miss. Jacoby Jackson in this next one, this
6:52
Speaker 1: was his touchdown run. He kind of ran through some
6:55
Speaker 1: tackles here. It feels like they might be getting more
6:58
Speaker 1: out of him in the early season than you thought.
7:01
Speaker 3: Yeah, I thought this was a nice run.
7:04
Speaker 2: I'm not sure I would say as much about some
7:06
Speaker 2: of his later runs he had, including on that uh,
7:09
Speaker 2: fourth and two and a half, um, when he was stopped,
7:12
Speaker 2: he like just needed to shove it up inside and
7:14
Speaker 2: he probably could have gotten it and said he'd kind
7:16
Speaker 2: of tried to dance. Um, you know, I think that
7:20
Speaker 2: we could get into a bigger conversation again. I think
7:22
Speaker 2: Bo Jackson has, uh, is doing his part and you
7:26
Speaker 2: could see the improvement. Like, you know, I think Jacoby
7:29
Speaker 2: Jackson has a role. I think they're going to have
7:31
Speaker 2: to find a way to use legend Bay as a
7:34
Speaker 2: change of pace. I, I know that's a, uh, freighted conversation,
7:39
Speaker 2: but like, you know, particularly in the second half, I
7:42
Speaker 2: just think like there's everyone with tired legs, like see
7:45
Speaker 2: if he can create something explosive.
7:48
Speaker 3: So, and I just think they're going to need that
7:50
Speaker 3: on offense.
7:50
Speaker 2: I just think again, right now it's sort of like
7:52
Speaker 2: Jeremiah Smith and you probably say Bo Jackson.
7:55
Speaker 3: And then it's like, where else are you turning for plays?
7:59
Speaker 2: But you know what I, I do want to point
8:00
Speaker 2: out like getting back to like sort of the scheme
8:02
Speaker 2: side of this again, back to the tight end conversation.
8:05
Speaker 2: Like they, they, their three tight ends played a combined
8:10
Speaker 2: 90 snaps out of the 65 on Saturday. Like that
8:14
Speaker 2: is way too many snaps. It's way too much 12
8:18
Speaker 2: and 13 personnel. This was an issue last year. I
8:22
Speaker 2: thought that maybe Arthur Smith would be able to get
8:25
Speaker 2: better use out of those looks. And it's not really happening.
8:29
Speaker 2: Like it's muddy in the water for the offensive line
8:32
Speaker 2: and the blocking schemes. They're not obviously really threats. Their
8:36
Speaker 2: blocking is pretty, Mediocre. And so I just think like
8:39
Speaker 2: Ohio state, like is just getting much better looks. They
8:42
Speaker 2: did on Saturday, at least when they're spread out and
8:46
Speaker 2: 11 personnel, they're using inside zone and duo combined with
8:51
Speaker 2: RPOs or other play action passing. And so like here,
8:54
Speaker 2: you know, you get, because like, I mean, Texas rightly
8:57
Speaker 2: particular Jeremiah Smith is it needs to keep a safety
9:01
Speaker 2: over the top of him for the most part. And so,
9:04
Speaker 2: you get, you know, as I say here, like three
9:06
Speaker 2: over two over Smith and in is to the bottom,
9:10
Speaker 2: you know, two over one over Devin McKeown to the top.
9:13
Speaker 3: This is third down.
9:14
Speaker 2: So they get a little bit of help here as
9:15
Speaker 2: well that they Texas in this double three technique, you know,
9:19
Speaker 2: no one inside the a gaps probably expecting a pass,
9:22
Speaker 2: but it just creates a clean look for the offensive line.
9:25
Speaker 2: They can double, they can get to the second level.
9:28
Speaker 2: You know, I do think Phil Daniels played a lot
9:29
Speaker 2: better prior to his injury on Saturday. And so this
9:32
Speaker 2: is obviously a nice, finished by Jacoby Jackson. But, you know,
9:36
Speaker 2: you get, as I said, you can.
9:37
Speaker 3: Get a hat on a hat.
9:39
Speaker 2: You have six blockers for five Texas players. You're reading
9:43
Speaker 2: that backside defensive end in terms of sand for whether
9:46
Speaker 2: to give or keep. And I just think that that
9:49
Speaker 2: should be much more the offense going forward, like 11
9:53
Speaker 2: personnel do an inside zone. As I said, RPOs play
9:56
Speaker 2: action off of it.
9:58
Speaker 1: And we're going to go to this next one. And
9:59
Speaker 1: this is a, this is, I was going to say
10:01
Speaker 1: a completion to Brandon in this, but this is the
10:03
Speaker 1: completion to Brandon in us.
10:06
Speaker 3: Yeah.
10:07
Speaker 2: And actually they're in 10 personnel. So no tight ends
10:09
Speaker 2: on the field here, which it may have been about
10:12
Speaker 2: the first time I've seen a Ryan day offense do that.
10:15
Speaker 2: And so you got, you know, Texas, I mean, we'll
10:18
Speaker 2: must champ through a lot at them, on Saturday. And so,
10:22
Speaker 2: you know, one thing he kept doing and third and long,
10:25
Speaker 2: and this is third and long is running cover five,
10:29
Speaker 2: which is man under two deep. That's also, we talked
10:32
Speaker 2: about before the game, the Georgia connection, a lot of
10:35
Speaker 2: what Kirby smart did against them a few years ago.
10:39
Speaker 2: And so this is just a nice response to it, right?
10:42
Speaker 2: So you get this bunch look again, you're running off
10:44
Speaker 2: man coverage, you get a sale concept, you get Brandon
10:47
Speaker 2: Inish mesh on a linebacker and Biles. And a nice
10:51
Speaker 2: throw and catch. And so I think we're going to
10:54
Speaker 2: come back to this. I think that Brandon Ennis has
10:57
Speaker 2: taken a lot of flack, but I will say that
11:00
Speaker 2: he continues to catch the ball in critical situations, which
11:03
Speaker 2: they were sorely missing in key spots in the second half.
11:07
Speaker 2: And so again, I think losses force you to figure out, okay,
11:13
Speaker 2: who can we really trust in the clutch? And I
11:15
Speaker 2: know that he has taken a lot of flack, Um,
11:19
Speaker 2: but I think he, he continues to be a pretty consistent, um,
11:23
Speaker 2: performer for them and someone that, you know, saying trust
11:26
Speaker 2: to throw the football too, which I think is becoming
11:29
Speaker 2: somewhat of an issue as well past the Jeremiah Smith, uh, level, obviously.
11:34
Speaker 2: So I think, you know, man coverage, uh, from Texas, uh,
11:39
Speaker 2: will become, uh, you know, became more of an issue
11:42
Speaker 2: and how I say responded to in the second half.
11:44
Speaker 2: But this was a good example of like they did
11:47
Speaker 2: have answers and making sure they're getting people in the
11:49
Speaker 2: right spots.
11:52
Speaker 3: All right.
11:52
Speaker 1: And now we're going to have, this is one we've
11:54
Speaker 1: talked about before. We've talked about the sale concept a
11:56
Speaker 1: number of times in the past. This is one right
11:58
Speaker 1: before halftime. This was the touchdown to Jeremiah Smith.
12:03
Speaker 3: Yeah.
12:03
Speaker 2: And so again, I think one thing they did a
12:06
Speaker 2: good job of is putting Jeremiah Smith in different spots.
12:09
Speaker 2: As I said, you know, lots of line up in
12:11
Speaker 2: the slot using motion and, to make him the inside receiver.
12:15
Speaker 2: Here's another way they did it, which is, um, they
12:19
Speaker 2: basically run a switch route. Uh, you know, so you
12:21
Speaker 2: have Jeremiah Smith as the outside receiver, but he basically
12:24
Speaker 2: effectively becomes a slot with, uh, and it's going outside.
12:27
Speaker 2: And so this is, you know, they're facing Tampa too here. So, uh,
12:31
Speaker 2: Texas in a three eye coverage, they rolled down and
12:35
Speaker 2: with the two, you know, the pole runner and the
12:36
Speaker 2: two deep safeties. And this is a great, great throw
12:38
Speaker 2: by sand. Um, and so, you know, I think there
12:42
Speaker 2: were some, there were some less stellar moments, but I
12:45
Speaker 2: think again, it's like, I'm trying to provide a measured view.
12:50
Speaker 2: I would say that like, you know, I don't think
12:52
Speaker 2: it's all good or bad from any person on the
12:55
Speaker 2: Ohio state offense.
12:57
Speaker 3: I think there was, there's plenty of things to build on.
12:59
Speaker 2: And like this, obviously I think goes without saying like
13:02
Speaker 2: continuing to move Jeremiah Smith around. He's only one person,
13:07
Speaker 2: but I think obviously maximizing him to the extent they can.
13:12
Speaker 1: And they ran the ball sort of intermittently well on Saturday.
13:15
Speaker 1: There was kind of a lot of not much interspersed
13:18
Speaker 1: with a few moments of, oh, that was a pretty
13:20
Speaker 1: nice run. This next one is one of those pretty
13:22
Speaker 1: nice runs. This is a concept we've talked about a
13:24
Speaker 1: bunch in terms of what Arthur Smith is going to
13:26
Speaker 1: be running this season. That is duo. And he's going
13:28
Speaker 1: to be doing it under center. And so you get
13:30
Speaker 1: a little bit of both here.
13:32
Speaker 3: Yeah.
13:33
Speaker 2: Obviously, I think one of the cliches coming out of
13:36
Speaker 2: the game was that they got more conservative offensively in
13:40
Speaker 2: the second half. I don't really think that's the case. I,
13:43
Speaker 2: I'd say, I mean, obviously the, the example is the
13:47
Speaker 2: punt that this is, uh, this plays from the first
13:50
Speaker 2: drive of the second half. And obviously it ends in
13:53
Speaker 2: a punt, um, from the Texas 39. So putting that aside,
13:57
Speaker 2: I actually, they came out like looking pretty good on
13:59
Speaker 2: offense up to that point. Um, until basically Jeremiah Smith
14:03
Speaker 2: had to took himself out after that, uh, bubble screen.
14:07
Speaker 2: And then it kind of fell apart, but like, they
14:09
Speaker 2: start out back to back duo runs from 11 personnel.
14:13
Speaker 2: And again, this is sort of what I'm talking about,
14:15
Speaker 2: about how they can use 11 personnel and still accomplish
14:19
Speaker 2: what they're looking for. So like the first one of
14:21
Speaker 2: the second half was from shotgun. This one is from
14:25
Speaker 2: under center. And so, but again, instead of using multiple
14:28
Speaker 2: tight ends, you are using the wide receivers and sort
14:32
Speaker 2: of this bunch look as your, your duo blockers on
14:36
Speaker 2: the edge, right? So you got, Brandon is kicking out.
14:38
Speaker 2: You've got, um, uh, Devin McEwen coming down for safety.
14:43
Speaker 2: And then you're just doubling up to the, the back, uh,
14:45
Speaker 2: to the Mike linebacker. But again, like you, you, you'll
14:49
Speaker 2: notice the Texas safeties, like they're playing a deep cover too, because,
14:53
Speaker 2: you know, the 11 personnel a suggest to them that
14:58
Speaker 2: it's much more likely that Ohio state is going to
14:59
Speaker 2: pass and be like, they've got to worry about those
15:02
Speaker 2: wide receivers, right? Like people aren't going to worry about
15:05
Speaker 2: the Ohio state tight ends as, past threats, putting aside the,
15:09
Speaker 2: you know, several catches on, on Saturday. So I just think,
15:14
Speaker 2: and then off of this, you could use, you know,
15:17
Speaker 2: effective play action with those guys and those bunch looks.
15:20
Speaker 2: So again, you're just getting a cleaner look for the
15:22
Speaker 2: offensive line. Like you've got a, you know, basically a five,
15:25
Speaker 2: a penny front here, five, one, it's easier to diagnose
15:28
Speaker 2: for them. We're at a combo up to the second level,
15:31
Speaker 2: which is, it continues to be an issue at times.
15:34
Speaker 2: And so you just have more space, less bodies. And
15:37
Speaker 2: I just think their run game is just more effective
15:39
Speaker 2: in this way.
15:41
Speaker 1: And I know when we get to the Ohio State
15:43
Speaker 1: defensive show, I'm sure we're going to be talking a
15:45
Speaker 1: lot about, you know, were they too conservative in the
15:47
Speaker 1: second half? And that's certainly an interesting conversation. Will Muschamp
15:51
Speaker 1: was not always too conservative. This next one is a
15:53
Speaker 1: good example of this. He brings a ton of pressure
15:56
Speaker 1: on this one. Old friend Hiro Kanu gets right up
15:59
Speaker 1: in Julian Sane's face. And honestly, this is a heck
16:02
Speaker 1: of a throw with as much pressure as he has
16:05
Speaker 1: right in his face here. But man, if you watch
16:08
Speaker 1: this one back, it's like if he just has another
16:10
Speaker 1: half second, this is probably a touchdown.
16:14
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I think the biggest change you can
16:16
Speaker 2: point to schematically in the game was Texas's first defensive
16:20
Speaker 2: first half for second half strategy. I think Steve Sarkeesian
16:24
Speaker 2: talked about after the game, like they clearly decided like
16:26
Speaker 2: to bring the pressure. And so in the second half,
16:29
Speaker 2: you see a ton of this is a this is
16:32
Speaker 2: a fire zone. So they're bringing five. they're dropping out
16:35
Speaker 2: there to outside linebackers running a two roll. So, you know,
16:39
Speaker 2: you got a, basically a Tampa, like two high four under,
16:41
Speaker 2: but guys rotating, you know, this is something we've seen
16:44
Speaker 2: a lot of from Michigan against Ohio state in recent
16:46
Speaker 2: years from Indiana last year, but just all kinds of,
16:50
Speaker 2: you know, they threw a lot at Ohio state in
16:52
Speaker 2: the offensive line. I think in particular, you're talking about
16:55
Speaker 2: hero canoe. I think they really started attacking in more
16:59
Speaker 2: in the passing game with stunts and loopers, you know,
17:05
Speaker 2: we've talked about preseason, like it's, it, Ohio state made
17:08
Speaker 2: the choice to like move their returning left tackle into
17:13
Speaker 2: guard and, and start a new left tackle. And so
17:15
Speaker 2: you sort of see the product of inexperience coming through
17:18
Speaker 2: a lot. Um, they really like went after him with
17:20
Speaker 2: Colin Simmons in the second half. And so, as you said,
17:23
Speaker 2: this one worked out like there in, you know, Jeremiah
17:26
Speaker 2: Smith gets the double move. It's a great throw by
17:28
Speaker 2: saying again, like we're going to talk about some of
17:30
Speaker 2: the mistakes he had in the second half. Um, But
17:35
Speaker 2: the Texas made the bet in the second half that
17:38
Speaker 2: they were like, you know, they had to get back
17:40
Speaker 2: in the game. They were willing to play with fire
17:43
Speaker 2: and it worked out for them because Ohio State just
17:44
Speaker 2: like could not make them pay enough in this manner
17:48
Speaker 2: for bringing pressure. All right.
17:50
Speaker 1: Well, boy, that is a smooth transition to what is
17:52
Speaker 1: going to be a very upsetting next play, especially the
17:55
Speaker 1: end zone view. This is the RPO where he just
17:59
Speaker 1: overshoots Devin McEwen and The sideline view is one thing,
18:02
Speaker 1: but man, when you watch it from behind the line
18:04
Speaker 1: of scrimmage, it is very apparent that there is no
18:08
Speaker 1: one else out there other than Devin McEwen.
18:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, that's why I have prefaced these with
18:15
Speaker 2: some very good throws by Julian San. I do think
18:19
Speaker 2: the pressure started speeding him up in the pocket. This
18:23
Speaker 2: is a most egregious example, but I think another one
18:26
Speaker 2: that hurt if people remember the second half, they had
18:29
Speaker 2: a slow screen to Bo Jackson that was entirely set up.
18:33
Speaker 2: But Texas brought an unblocked defender off the edge and
18:36
Speaker 2: saying basically turfed it at Jackson's feet rather than like
18:40
Speaker 2: waiting the extra half second to deliver him the ball.
18:43
Speaker 2: And so I just think his mechanics started to break
18:45
Speaker 2: down a little bit. Like, you know, obviously like the
18:48
Speaker 2: offensive line, I think held up okay in all this pressure,
18:51
Speaker 2: but like there were certainly breakdowns, but this is, this again,
18:54
Speaker 2: I think is another example of like, they're not really
18:57
Speaker 2: being conservative. Like they didn't turn off the RPOs. Like
19:00
Speaker 2: they were, if anything, they were pushing the ball more
19:02
Speaker 2: vertical down the field in response to Texas playing like
19:06
Speaker 2: this more man coverage. And so, you know, this is
19:10
Speaker 2: a basically a cover one, like from the jump, they're
19:14
Speaker 2: bringing Texas is bringing five. That's why they have the
19:16
Speaker 2: unblocked safety coming off the back edge. And you've got
19:20
Speaker 2: this seam route on the backside. So it's a backside RPO, right?
19:24
Speaker 2: Cause he's, you know, his back is turned. So he
19:26
Speaker 2: sees that safety coming down and yeah, Texas corner slips.
19:32
Speaker 2: I mean, it's wide open. It's unfortunately probably the least
19:35
Speaker 2: accurate pass I've ever seen Julian Sane throw in his
19:37
Speaker 2: time at Ohio State. He must've felt a little sped up,
19:41
Speaker 2: but it's obviously that would have, that play alone would
19:45
Speaker 2: have won the game for Iowa State.
19:47
Speaker 1: Yeah, it felt like they needed just one more score
19:51
Speaker 1: and just didn't ever quite get it. So that was
19:54
Speaker 1: one that people are going to cringe about. This next one,
19:57
Speaker 1: this is not nearly as high stakes, but it goes
20:00
Speaker 1: back to something you were talking about earlier in terms
20:02
Speaker 1: of the fact that they haven't gotten a whole heck
20:04
Speaker 1: of a lot out of outside zone here. Here is
20:07
Speaker 1: an example of outside zone not going for a whole
20:09
Speaker 1: heck of a lot.
20:10
Speaker 3: Yeah.
20:10
Speaker 2: I'd say like, despite the fact back to the past,
20:13
Speaker 2: the former clip that they misfired on that, like the RPO,
20:17
Speaker 2: like again, that like spread out RPO inside zone based
20:21
Speaker 2: game has continued to work for them.
20:22
Speaker 3: Like that schematically got them open.
20:24
Speaker 1: Right.
20:25
Speaker 2: Like this is what's killing them on Saturday is they were,
20:28
Speaker 2: they would start driving, then they'd go to outside zone.
20:31
Speaker 2: And it just was like, I mean, I, their yards
20:33
Speaker 2: per carry on outside zone on Saturday had to be
20:36
Speaker 2: near zero, if not even maybe negative. Um, And again,
20:40
Speaker 2: it just goes to the way they're blocking this with
20:42
Speaker 2: this odd front. Like they're not establishing that double team
20:46
Speaker 2: on the zero tech nose guard. And then the, the,
20:48
Speaker 2: the four eye is a solo block and they just
20:50
Speaker 2: can never get to that second level linebacker again. Like,
20:54
Speaker 2: you know, we've, we talked about Jacoby Jackson and I mean,
20:57
Speaker 2: I think if you, if you freeze this like halfway through, um,
21:02
Speaker 2: there is a big cutback lane that again, like that's
21:04
Speaker 2: kind of goes to my point about like, you know,
21:07
Speaker 2: if you had a great back, if you had a
21:08
Speaker 2: JK Dobbins there, maybe he hits that cutback and like
21:12
Speaker 2: all this, all our discussion of the offensive line is
21:15
Speaker 2: for not because he, he turns into a big play
21:18
Speaker 2: because he's a great player. Right. But they like, they
21:20
Speaker 2: just don't quite have that. And so, you know, I,
21:23
Speaker 2: the offensive line has their issues, but I think they're,
21:26
Speaker 2: you know, I, I think they're fine. I think the
21:30
Speaker 2: running backs are largely fine.
21:31
Speaker 3: It's just when you're.
21:32
Speaker 2: Collectively putting in like good players together, they have to
21:35
Speaker 2: work cohesively as it all. Cause they can't, again, like,
21:38
Speaker 2: they can't make up for mistakes of others. And so
21:41
Speaker 2: they just, this play though, it's just, it's not working
21:45
Speaker 2: for them at the moment either. Like in, you know,
21:47
Speaker 2: Ryan day, one of his cliches is like, you know,
21:50
Speaker 2: scheme coaching execution. Like it's all three on this. Cause
21:53
Speaker 2: the way they're running this, I don't think is setting
21:55
Speaker 2: them up for success. I think it's pretty transparent what's
21:57
Speaker 2: coming and they're just, they're not able to block it
22:00
Speaker 2: up or cut it the right way. So this would
22:03
Speaker 2: be one in terms of looking forward, like, they either
22:05
Speaker 2: need to go back to the drawing board and how
22:07
Speaker 2: they're running outside zone or like basically scrap it at
22:09
Speaker 2: the moment and focus much more on inside zone and
22:12
Speaker 2: duo and counter.
22:14
Speaker 1: Next up, we've got a third down play. This is
22:16
Speaker 1: another one. This is one where Colin Simmons is coming
22:20
Speaker 1: very fast and with bad intentions at Julian saying this
22:23
Speaker 1: was the one where it was the throat of Phillip Bell,
22:25
Speaker 1: where it looked for a second, like he might've brought
22:27
Speaker 1: it in and it was an incomplete pass.
22:31
Speaker 3: Yeah, again.
22:32
Speaker 2: And so like, I guess focus on the protection first. Um,
22:35
Speaker 2: since you brought that up, like, as I said, Texas
22:37
Speaker 2: kept using concepts where basically like you tried to load
22:40
Speaker 2: up what would be the, their left side. So Ohio
22:43
Speaker 2: state's right side of the offensive line with like three
22:46
Speaker 2: defensive linemen and then bring Simmons around and get him
22:48
Speaker 2: singled up on Ian Moore or, you know, force more
22:52
Speaker 2: to come off. And so, you know, he gets stuck
22:54
Speaker 2: on the defensive linemen slanting inside of him and, you know,
22:58
Speaker 2: no one picks up Simmons. And again, this is like
23:01
Speaker 2: these little things lead to sand getting sped up, but,
23:04
Speaker 2: like we talked about the saying missing the throw and
23:06
Speaker 2: we've talked about like offensive line issues and the running
23:08
Speaker 2: back cuts and like the wide receivers did not do
23:11
Speaker 2: their part either.
23:11
Speaker 3: Right.
23:12
Speaker 2: So these are back-to-back plays. Second down, Sam pulls the RPO,
23:16
Speaker 2: throws the back shoulder, throw to Devin McKeown. He drops
23:18
Speaker 2: it here.
23:19
Speaker 3: This is H out.
23:20
Speaker 2: So, you know, they ran, I showed a similar route
23:23
Speaker 2: that Brandon has caught in the first half. They put
23:25
Speaker 2: Jeremiah Smith in the slot on third down to do this.
23:28
Speaker 2: And like, so this ball like has to be caught
23:30
Speaker 2: by Phillip Bell. And so this, you know, everyone in
23:34
Speaker 2: the off season loves to talk about rotation and how
23:36
Speaker 2: great it is to like rotate players. But like, if
23:39
Speaker 2: you're going to rotate, like guys need to make plays.
23:41
Speaker 2: And if you're having a drop off and it's third
23:43
Speaker 2: and 10 against Texas and like someone needs to make
23:45
Speaker 2: a play, like I wouldn't be putting my backup slot
23:49
Speaker 2: receiver in that position personally. Like I get Jeremiah Smith
23:52
Speaker 2: in there, get, you know, Brandon is in there. Cause that's,
23:57
Speaker 2: it's basically like a one read. There's it's only really
24:00
Speaker 2: available throw to saying, cause again, Texas is, you know,
24:03
Speaker 2: as I said, like they upped the simulated pressures and
24:06
Speaker 2: they upped the use of man coverage. So again, third
24:08
Speaker 2: long here, they're again running cover five. And so it's
24:11
Speaker 2: the right read, the right throw it's there. And, you know,
24:13
Speaker 2: they just, to your point, they needed one more score
24:16
Speaker 2: and in that they needed like one or two more
24:18
Speaker 2: plays that they just didn't get.
24:20
Speaker 1: Well, here's one of the plays that they almost got.
24:22
Speaker 1: And this one I think is a great example of,
24:24
Speaker 1: there was a lot of criticism of Ryan day from
24:26
Speaker 1: people who thought they were too conservative in the second half.
24:29
Speaker 1: And I, I mean, we have talked already about this offline,
24:33
Speaker 1: but I find it very difficult to say that they
24:35
Speaker 1: were too conservative in the second half. This is an
24:38
Speaker 1: example why. It's third and four. They have a 45-yard
24:42
Speaker 1: field goal sort of in their back pocket. Do you
24:45
Speaker 1: run to try and shorten the field goal? Do you
24:46
Speaker 1: try and take something quick to just try and get
24:48
Speaker 1: a first down? No, they take a shot down to
24:50
Speaker 1: Jeremiah Smith in the end zone, and it's one-on-one coverage.
24:54
Speaker 1: This is one of those plays where We always say,
24:56
Speaker 1: if you got one-on-one with Jeremiah, you throw that more
24:59
Speaker 1: often than not. It didn't work out in this case,
25:02
Speaker 1: but the result wasn't great. I don't mind the process here.
25:06
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, if anything I would criticize Arthur Smith for,
25:10
Speaker 2: it was, as I said, in the second half, Texas
25:13
Speaker 2: played more man coverage. And I don't think they probably
25:17
Speaker 2: expected that. I mean, they didn't get in the first half.
25:20
Speaker 2: And I'm not sure they adjusted enough with enough man beaters, right?
25:24
Speaker 3: Because.
25:25
Speaker 2: Uh, here you're basically like, that's the only, that go
25:28
Speaker 2: route to Jeremiah Smith is the, basically the only option
25:32
Speaker 2: against man coverage here. Cause they're just kind of like
25:34
Speaker 2: running curls and with that, like little, you know, swing
25:38
Speaker 2: lead blocks, uh, to Bo Jackson as an outlet.
25:42
Speaker 3: Uh, but you know, I, I'm.
25:44
Speaker 2: Not sure I, I, this might be not my choice
25:47
Speaker 2: of what you would do in this situation to your point.
25:49
Speaker 2: Like I would prefer in third and four, like not
25:51
Speaker 2: relying on a low percentage, um, you know, one man
25:55
Speaker 2: vertical route. Um, but that said, I guess the, the
25:58
Speaker 2: series before that, you know, like to the point about
26:00
Speaker 2: making plays, like even Jeremiah Smith, they ran that third
26:03
Speaker 2: and four and they ran those double slants and, you know,
26:07
Speaker 2: Bo Moscow, whether he got a hand on him or,
26:10
Speaker 2: you know, he, Jeremiah Smith didn't come down with that
26:12
Speaker 2: slant pass. Um, he didn't come down with the RPO
26:16
Speaker 2: one that, that Smith or did saying, excuse me, through
26:19
Speaker 2: behind him. So, you know, I think obviously like, you know,
26:24
Speaker 2: when you lose everything doesn't quite go your way. Um,
26:27
Speaker 2: but so I think if anything, as I said, like,
26:31
Speaker 2: you know, would love to, this is pretty transparent cover
26:33
Speaker 2: one in hindsight would like love to see mesh here
26:36
Speaker 2: or like some kind of shallow crossing concepts, something that
26:39
Speaker 2: takes on man coverage. Cause it's pretty obvious like what's
26:41
Speaker 2: coming here. Um, but yeah, I, I think again, like,
26:45
Speaker 2: I don't think the stats that the game flow, anything
26:48
Speaker 2: backs up that they were being conservative. Um, They obviously
26:53
Speaker 2: kept just looking for that one more shot. As you said,
26:56
Speaker 2: they needed three more points in some way, and they
26:59
Speaker 2: had opportunities both by.
27:01
Speaker 3: Scheme and execution, and they just didn't make it happen.
27:06
Speaker 1: All right, there you go. A supersized version of Ross
27:08
Speaker 1: Fulton analysis. 11 plays breaking down the Ohio State offense
27:13
Speaker 1: against Texas. If you enjoyed this show, and if you
27:15
Speaker 1: were watching 27 and a half minutes in, I'm sure
27:18
Speaker 1: that you did. This would be a great time for
27:20
Speaker 1: you to make sure you hit the thumbs up. Leave
27:22
Speaker 1: us a comment as well. And if you're watching on mobile,
27:24
Speaker 1: hit that hype button. It is not available on desktop.
27:27
Speaker 1: And if you're watching on desktop, go ahead, get your phone.
27:30
Speaker 1: I'm sure it's in your pocket or sitting next to
27:31
Speaker 1: you on the table. Go ahead, pull this video up
27:34
Speaker 1: on YouTube on your phone and hit that hype button.
27:36
Speaker 1: That helps other folks find these shows and encourages Ross
27:39
Speaker 1: to do more plays. Maybe 12 plays next week. Who knows?
27:43
Speaker 1: The big Kent State breakdown could set a new Ross
27:46
Speaker 1: Fulton analysis record. So when Ross is back, we will
27:50
Speaker 1: once again be sponsored. by our friends at Jeff Ruby's Columbus,
27:53
Speaker 1: proudly offering nationally acclaimed USDA prime steaks, seafood and sushi,
27:56
Speaker 1: impeccable service, live entertainment, and an attention to detail that
27:59
Speaker 1: is simply unmatched. Just go to jeffruby.com slash Columbus and
28:02
Speaker 1: check out the menu and make a reservation today. That
28:05
Speaker 1: will do it for today. Thank you guys all for
28:06
Speaker 1: joining us. Have a great day. We'll talk to you tomorrow.